Things to do in Sao Paulo

[crazydog]

Anyone have any suggestions for "must sees" in Sao Paulo? My cruise departs from there and I would like to stay there for a few days pre-cruise.

[Lirio]

In Sao Paulo you can see some historical sites, museums, art galleries, restaurants (most of the best restaurants in Brazil) and night life. Sao Paulo is a big city (great Sao Paulo has 19 million inhabitants) with lot of traffic jam and it is not ease to drive around. I think your cruise departs from Santos in São Paulo state, not the city of Sao Paulo that has no port. Santos is 80 km from Sao Paulo.

 

Please let me know what would be your interests and I can tell you more about it. I go to SP almost every week for business purposes and sometimes I stay the weekend because there is a lot to do there.

[Pumbaamd]

We will be staying at the Marriott by GRU airport for the day waiting for our late night flight. Anything to do in that area?

Thanks.

Rick and Deirdra

[crazydog]

In Sao Paulo you can see some historical sites, museums, art galleries, restaurants (most of the best restaurants in Brazil) and night life. Sao Paulo is a big city (great Sao Paulo has 19 million inhabitants) with lot of traffic jam and it is not ease to drive around. I think your cruise departs from Santos in São Paulo state, not the city of Sao Paulo that has no port. Santos is 80 km from Sao Paulo.

 

Please let me know what would be your interests and I can tell you more about it. I go to SP almost every week for business purposes and sometimes I stay the weekend because there is a lot to do there.

 

Hello Lirio,

We would be most interested in historic sites. Is it pretty safe in Sao Paulo?

[brazilgirl]

GRU is actually Guarulhos , on the outskirts of São Paulo. If you are planning on staying in São Paulo for sightseeing , it is not an ideal location , as you would have to go on the "marginal" , which is one of the areas with the worst traffic in São Paulo to get to any place of interest.

 

I´d recommend staying at any of the following hotels:

 

The Grand Hyatt -just stayed there , very nice property , good location

 

WTC Sheraton (near Hyatt)...also very nice , would choose the Hyatt though

 

Renaissance...love this hotel and love the location , very nice neighborhood , great shopping , very walkable area

 

Lots to do and see in SP ...the Pinacoteca has wonderful art exhibits and beautiful gardens.

 

MASP- very nice art museum , gives a good overview of Brazilian art , as well as works by Picasso , Bosch , Matisse , Modgliani etc...

 

Mercado Municipal ...a huge market , with fruits and vegetables from all over , really unique , neat architecture

 

Gastronomic delights...so many excellent restaurants. Fasano , D.O.M , many wonderful churrascarias .

 

These are just some ideas.

 

Kim

[Lirio]

Historical sites:

 

Patio do Colegio - where the city begin in 1554 - http://www.google.com.br/images?hl=pt-BR&rlz=1T4GGIH_pt-BRBR262BR263&q=patio+do+colegio&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xGUhTN-_MYP98AaylMhw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDIQsAQwAw

 

Estacao Julio Prestes/Sala Sao Paulo - former a train station built in 1926 is now a concert hall. http://www.salasaopaulo.art.br/visitaVirtual/salaConcertos1.aspx

 

Basilica de Sao Bento - http://www.mosteiro.org.br/index2.php?pg=Visita_Virtual.php

 

They are relatively close (not walking distance, but by taxi) in terms of Sao Paulo and can be visited in one day. Hope the links works. It is all in portuguese, unfortunatelly, but you can see the images.